Money

Burke Equipment Rental on St. Clair Street in Chatham, On. is celebrating its 12th anniversary in business this month.Company owner, Scott Burke, is shown with a small sample of the equipment he has for rent for commercial, industrial and personal use. Scott is the third generation of the Burke family in the equipment rental business and has a staff of six. His late grandfather, Don Burke, owned and operated Lil Pappa's Rental Service for a number of years on Keil Drive in Chatham. (BOB BOUGHNER, Chatham Daily News)

The first annual downtown Chatham Lobsterfest will take place May 25 at the River Rock Night Club.

The feasting event, being sponsored by Chef Mike Moccia, will begin at 4:30 p.m. and feature entertainment by The Mountaineers.

"Many of my friends and guests at my restaurant have mentioned they would love to attend a seafood themed event,'' he said. "There seems to be seafood celebrations all over the municipality with the exception of Chatham, so I decided to take the plunge.

"We are hoping for a great turnout seeing that it is Retrofest weekend and there will be a frees concert by a Maritime band, The Trews, in Tecumseh Park later that evening.''

The Lobsterfest will raise funds for the Foundation of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance in support of the urgent capital equipment needs fund.

The Lobsterfest will also have a bevy of celebrity servers provided by the Crow City Roller Girls and will feature a chocolate lovers' table.

Tickets are $95 and available at the Chef's Table on McNaughton Avenue or by calling 519-436-0559. The cost is $95 per person.

BIZ AFTER HOURS

Richmond Motors in Chatham will host the May 15 business after hours networking session sponsored by the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce.

The event begins at 5 p.m. and the cost is $5 at the door plus a chance to win a $100 gift certificate.

MAYOR’S ADDRESS

Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope will provide his yearly municipal update and address May 23 during a breakfast meeting at Smitty's restaurant.

The cost is $25 and tickets are available by calling 519-352-7540.

RETROFEST COUNTDOWN

Retrofest 2013 is scheduled for May 24 and 25. A parade of classic cars will take place May 24 followed on Saturday by classic and collector car display on King Street in downtown Chatham followed by a free concert in Tecumseh Park featuring The Trews.

There will also be hot air balloons and a zip line in the park throughout the day on Saturday.

EXERCISEMD

Dr. Henry Svec of Chatham has announced the launch of ExerciseMD, a prescriptive exercise program to help breast cancer patients cope, recover and fight cancer in a safe and effective manner.

"We are seeing more health practitioners encourage their cancer patients to include the Exercise MD program as an effective tool in lessening the harmful side effects when undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments,'' said Svec.

ExerciseMD prescribes and describes the proper amount of activity outlined on a personalized exercise schedule for the patient.

Once reviewed by a certified kinesilogist, the exercise program can be carried out in the comfort of the patient's home.

A virtual assessment allows software talks to the trainer's software so they can record contact with the patient.

"Alternatively, breast cancer patients who require more active assistance in the pursuit of their health goals may find the clinic exercise program more beneficial,'' said Svec.

Mainstreet Credit Union (formerly Sydenham and Unigasco Community Credit Union in Middlesex and Chatham) has extended the deadline for its annual scholarship award program to June 9.

The scholarship is geared to local youth in Middlesex and Chatham between the ages of 17-25 who are or will be attending university or college in the fall.

Mainstreet is looking for those well-rounded students who achieve good grades and are involved in their school or community to apply for the award opportunity.

The winning applicant will receive a $3,000 financial award to assist them with their tuition.

Interested students are asked to fill out a short online application form, upload a copy of their most recent transcript and a copy of their audio or video rant covering the topic "if you could change one thing in society what would it be?"

It's that time of year again to open the cottage or cabin for the summer season.

Some tips to make sure your summer home getaways are safe and fun include:

•carefully check your surroundings to get a sense of the kind of work that will be involved in opening your cottage. From fallen trees to cracked windows to rotten wood on the deck or docks, the long winter months may have caused some damages that could pose a threat to your safety if not repaired.

If children regularly visit your cottage it's important to take a look around the property and see what improvements are needed to make it child-safe.

For example, make sure all poisonous substances such as weed killers are stored safely away and that all locks are secure.

Take the same risk prevention steps for your cottage that you would for your home such as checking smoke and carbon monoxide detectors' battery life and keeping a fire extinguisher on the premises.

Test heaters, light switches, appliances, wires and outlets for any damage first and make sure the water heater is filled to avoid burning the element.